


I Itch for You

by crimsontheory



Series: Study Buddies [5]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Blow Jobs, Friends to Lovers, Hand Jobs, Harry in Panties, Lingerie, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Sexting, Smut, fun fact about me i hate the word panties aklshkdsa, kind of, you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:34:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25675150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsontheory/pseuds/crimsontheory
Summary: Harry tries something new and Louis makes a confession.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Series: Study Buddies [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817770
Comments: 24
Kudos: 140
Collections: Prompt 5.4: Board





	I Itch for You

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is the fifth part to a series and if you haven't read the first four parts please do so before starting this one. You can find them [here](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817770).
> 
> Here she is! The final 'chapter'! This is my third year doing wordplay, but my first year doing all five weeks! I feel pretty proud of myself for that. Not sure how this turned into 22k overall, but feeling pretty proud about that too.
> 
> If you've seen the moodboard I made for this, it finally makes sense! (if you can't already tell by the tags) It was something I thought about adding to this fic and then I found the perfect picture and added to the moodboard so I had to do it. Now that it's done, it doesn't really fit the whole flow of this series but, oh well. Let's just pretend that it does.
> 
> Thank you so much to the few of you who have been here since the beginning, I appreciate it so much and you've kept me motivated. I edited this while doing two other things so my apologies for any mistakes!
> 
> This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge for the prompt "board". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/board), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge (including years 1-3), [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works). You can also find the masterpost for this year’s challenge [here](https://wordplayfics.tumblr.com/post/622306139518926848/wordplay-2020-every-week-for-five-weeks-a-prompt).
> 
> As a surprise to absolutely no one, the title for this is taken from Real by Years & Years.

As Louis walked through the doorway he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, seeing two new messages from Harry sent only twenty minutes ago.

_Come around mine when you get out of class._

_I have a new study thing I want to try._

A thought crept into Louis’ mind when he read the words _study thing_ and he hoped that was a euphemism for getting off, but he pushed the thought away because they weren’t _that_. They weren’t friends with benefits, Harry meant too much to him for them to be just that. But he also couldn’t think about them being more than friends either because he _did_ want that, more than anything, but he knew Harry didn’t feel the same. 

It had been almost a week since Louis had realized his feelings and he couldn’t believe he didn’t notice before how often he thought about Harry because it was _very often_. And it wasn’t just the sexy stuff he thought about because he did think about that, but he was getting the sexy stuff and while that was incredible, mind-blowing even, it was the sappy, soft stuff he thought about more. Like holding Harry’s hand as they walked through campus, falling asleep with Harry in his arms, going on dates, getting to call Harry _his boyfriend_. Louis’ belly swooped at just the thought. 

But most of all, what occupied his mind the most, was finally getting to kiss Harry for real. Harry had the softest, pinkest lips Louis had ever seen and they felt like heaven on every other part of his body and he couldn’t even begin to imagine how they would feel against his own lips. Louis often caught himself staring at Harry’s mouth while he talked, each passing day it got harder and harder to control himself.

He shook his head to clear all of that away. He didn’t have the brain capacity to worry about any of that right now, with final exams literally right around the corner, he really needed to stay focused on his studies. He replied to Harry telling him he would be over shortly and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

Thirty minutes later, Louis was knocking on Harry’s door. Before he could even get a second knock in, the door was swinging open and Harry was standing on the other side with a disgruntled look on his face.

“What took you so long?” He asked in lieu of a greeting.

Louis held up the plastic shopping bag in his hand. “I stopped to get snacks.”

Harry just rolled his eyes and reached out to grab Louis by the arm and drag him back to his room. Louis dropped his backpack on the floor and climbed onto Harry’s bed, sitting cross-legged in the middle of it. He rummaged through the shopping bag to find the crisps he bought and pulled them out, opening it and popping one into his mouth. As he crunched, he looked up to grab his backpack, but froze before he could because Harry was still standing in the doorway watching him “What?” He asked around his mouthful. “Didn’t you have some new thing you wanted to do?”

“Uh,” Harry said, scrunching his eyes closed and shaking his head. “Yes. Right.” Louis watched as Harry walked over to his desk and picked up what looked like a pile of flashcards. He drummed his fingers against the back of them for a second, something Louis had learned that Harry did when he was nervous, which, why would Harry be nervous about studying? They’ve been doing it for like a full month now. Harry turned around to face him and held them up and Louis found out that they were indeed flashcards.

“Flashcards?” He said slowly, taking another crisp out of the bag and munching on it. There had to be something he was missing here. “Sorry to break it to you H, but flashcards aren’t some brand new idea.” Sure, they hadn’t done that themselves, but it wasn’t some new study tactic.

Harry shook his head, his fringe flopping in front of his eyes as he did so. He hadn’t styled it today so it was all natural and loose and Louis preferred it that way, it was much softer. He loved his hair clip too, it was very quirky and cute, but this way was his favourite. His fingers _itched_ to run through it. “No, strip flashcards.”

“Come again?” Louis said, raising an eyebrow.

“I made these earlier today and I’m going to quiz you,” Harry explained, tapping them against the palm of his hand. “If you get an answer right I’ll remove an item of clothing, but if you answer one wrong _you_ have to remove an item of clothing.”

Oh, so that explained why Harry was wearing what looked like three layers of clothing when it was bloody boiling outside. But that certainly sounded like an idea Louis could get on board with. “If you wanted to get naked that badly, Styles, you should have just said so. Definitely would have gotten me here faster.”

Harry barked out a laugh at that, clearly more relaxed than he was just a few moments ago. “So you think you’re going to get them all right then?”

“Obviously,” he replied. He knew his shit. Plus, it didn’t hurt that he and Harry had been studying together practically every day for almost a whole month. Everything was pretty fresh in his brain.

As it turned out, Louis _didn’t_ get all the questions right, but he did get the majority of them. He only had to remove his shirt and both of his socks so far while Harry was only down to his boxer briefs. One more question right and Louis would get his prize: Harry.

Harry held up the next card and Louis smirked, settling back against the bed and propping himself up on his elbows. That question was so easy, _too_ easy, Louis could answer it in his sleep. He gave the answer that he knew was right and his smile widened when Harry flipped the card over and, sure enough, written on the back was the answer he just gave “Get naked then, Harold. Looks like I won.”

Harry bit his lip and averted his eyes from Louis’ gaze. “Well, not exactly.”

“What do you mean?” Louis asked, clearly confused. “You only have your pants left.”

A blush formed on Harry’s cheeks and he looked almost embarrassed. Surely, Harry, the person who only wore clothes because it was illegal to be in public without them, wouldn’t be embarrassed about being naked. And besides, Louis had seen Harry naked several times by now and he definitely _did not_ have a single thing to be shy or embarrassed about. But maybe he was always that way, a little insecure about his body and Louis was too focused on getting off that he never noticed it. He needed to stop him before they took it any further so they could talk about it. Louis didn’t want to continue anything between them if Harry was even the slightest bit uncomfortable.

Louis sat up on the bed about to tell Harry to stop, but then Harry hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his pants and slowly started to tug them down. Louis could see something dark against his hip and at first, he thought maybe Harry had gotten a new tattoo and, depending on what it was, could absolutely warrant him being a little embarrassed. Surely, Harry knew that Louis would never make fun of him for something like that, especially with the number of ridiculous tattoos Louis had.

Then Harry pulled his boxer briefs further down and Louis’ mouth went dry. That was definitely not a new tattoo. Harry was wearing a tiny pair of black lacy knickers and it was single-handedly the sexiest thing Louis had ever seen. They were completely made out of lace and Louis could see bits of Harry’s skin peeking through the lace. His cock didn’t even fit inside them, the head poking out above the waistband. There was even a little bow in the center. Louis swallowed thickly, reaching down to squeeze himself to relieve some pressure because he was pretty sure he could come just from looking at it.

“Lou?”

Louis’ eyes snapped back up to Harry's face and he realized a little too late that Harry must have said something by the way his face fell. He quickly reached for his shirt that he tossed over the back of his desk chair earlier and used it to cover himself. “Fuck, sorry, this is so weird. I should have never done this. Can you please just go and forget this ever happened?”

“Wait,” Louis said, effectively stopping Harry from where he was scrambling around trying to pick up his discarded clothing. “I’ll go if you really want me to, but could we maybe talk first?”

“Talk?” Harry questioned exasperatedly, still trying to cover himself. “Please, Louis, I’m embarrassed enough.”

“Okay, first off, you have nothing to be embarrassed about because you look so fucking good in those,” Louis explained, enjoying the very faint _really_ Harry said under his breath. “Second, I can tell you’re uncomfortable and I don’t want you to be, so maybe you can just tell me about it.”

“Tell you about it?”

“Yeah, like, where did this come from? Why did you decide to wear those today?”

Harry swivelled his desk chair around so it was facing Louis and sat down. He was still covering himself with his shirt, but Louis tried to ignore that, didn’t want to bring attention to it. Hopefully, talking about it will help Harry loosen up a bit and allow Louis to show him how much he liked what he was wearing.

“It’s something I’ve kind of always been interested in,” Harry started timidly, but Louis nodded at him to continue. “I just thought it could be fun to wear them for someone, but never did because I was afraid they would think it was weird. I bought this pair and tried them on for myself when I first got them, but I was too scared to ever wear them again so I shoved them to the back of my drawer and they’ve never seen the light of day until now.” Harry flicked his eyes up to Louis but when he noticed Louis watching him he quickly looked away. “I thought maybe you’d be different, that you might like it and wouldn’t judge me for it.”

“Harry,” Louis said softly. “I would never judge you for something like this. If I didn’t like it I would let you know, but I would never _ever_ judge you. I never thought men in lacy underwear would be something I was into, but you may have changed my mind. It’s kind of really hot.” Actually, he was pretty sure it was just _Harry_ in lacy underwear that did it for him, but he wasn’t about to say that out loud.

“You think so?” Harry asked, finally looking up at him.

“You look incredible, baby,” Louis surprised himself with the slip of the pet name, but it felt _right_ calling Harry that. And the way Harry blushed when he said it was also nice. “I can’t imagine how much courage it took for you to do this. Thank you for wearing them for me. Can I show you how much I appreciate it? Will you let me see?”

Harry bit his lip again, looking up at Louis from underneath his lashes. Louis gave him a small nod, encouraging him. Harry stood, his shirt still bunched in front of him, but slowly, he let it slip from his fingers and fall to the floor. He began walking towards where Louis was sitting on the bed and the closer he got, the deeper the pink dusted across his cheeks became. He’d been blushing ever since he first took his boxer briefs off and Louis loved it because Harry was so pretty when he blushed. Harry was always gorgeous, like drop-dead beautiful, but he was especially so when he blushed.

As soon as Harry got close enough to touch, Louis did just that, reaching out to grip his hips and pull him in until he was standing in between Louis’ spread thighs. “I really want to suck you off. Can I?”

Louis could see Harry’s cock twitch in its lace confines. “But today was supposed to be about you,” Harry said, obviously torn. “I was supposed to help you relax.”

“This is about me,” Louis said, running the tip of his finger down the length of Harry’s cock. Harry sighed at the roughness of it, pushing further into Louis’ touch. “What I want right now is to make you feel good. To show you how much I love these.” At Harry’s agreement, Louis continued to rub him through the knickers. “These are so pretty, baby. You look so pretty in them. I can’t decide if I want you to keep them on or if I want your cock out.”

“How about this?” Harry suggested, pulling down the front of his knickers just low enough to hook underneath his balls so he was still wearing them, but his cock was standing out proudly. 

Louis cursed, squeezing his eyes shut because that sight was _too much_. He didn’t even take a second to think about it when he opened his eyes, just leaned forward to lick a broad stripe up the underside of Harry’s cock, fit his mouth over it fully and sucked him into his mouth once he reached the tip. Harry froze and gasped and Louis could see his toes flexing against the carpet.

He popped off, saliva dribbling down his chin a bit as Louis flicked his tongue out to taste along the shaft, tongue swirling over the red, shiny crown of Harry’s cock. He sucked gently, kitten licking right in the slit and Harry whined, hips stuttering in Louis’ hold, “Lou,” he gasped, voice thick and gravely. “ _Please_.”

He took Harry fully down again, tongue tight against the underside and Harry’s hips jerked forward involuntarily, pushing his dick another inch farther down Louis’ throat. Louis spluttered, more out of surprise than anything else as Harry mumbled out embarrassed apologies, trying to pull out of Louis' mouth. Tightening his grip on Harry’s hips to prevent him from moving, Louis looked up into Harry’s eyes and gave him a small nod, letting him know it was okay, that he _liked_ it.

“Fuck, oh my god,” Harry choked out, clutching a fist in Louis’ hair as he gently pumped his hips in and out of Louis’ warm mouth. Louis took it happily, swallowing around him and pressing his tongue against the underside. It didn’t take long, just a few pumps of his hips, before Harry shuddered, crying out as he emptied himself in thick, messy pulses down Louis’ throat.

Harry flopped bonelessly on the bed next to Louis, knickers awkwardly bunched around his thighs. Louis laid back and shoved his shorts down, taking his cock out and squeezed his eyes shut as he pulled himself off with quick, jerky strokes.

Suddenly, Louis felt the feather-light touch of fingers grazing over the head of his cock and he flicked his eyes open to see Harry’s hand join in alongside his own to jerk him off and that was all it took for Louis to spill into his palm. 

Afterward, when they were both cleaned up, Louis pulled Harry down onto the bed with him and wrapped his arms around him, running the fingers of one hand through Harry’s curls while the other rubbed along his back.

“Thank you,” Harry whispered into Louis’ neck. He didn’t say what for, but he didn’t even need to, Louis knew. He didn’t say anything back, just held Harry closer and pressed a kiss to the crown of Harry’s head.

It was Saturday afternoon and Louis and his roommates were in the town center headed towards the cinema. There was some new superhero movie out that Liam was desperate to see and he was dragging Louis and Niall along with him. But, Liam had offered to pay for the tickets _and_ the snacks, so Louis was game. Any way for him to spend as little money as possible was preferred. 

They were almost to the cinema when a flash of something pink in a shop window caught Louis’ attention and he stopped in his tracks. He needed to get a better look. Luckily, they had just passed the alleyway that led to the public toilets and he could use that as an excuse. There was no way in hell he was going to tell the boys where he was actually going. 

“Hey lads,” Louis called out to them where they were a few steps ahead. “I’m just gonna pop to the loo for a moment. Save a seat for me?”

“But there’s a toilet inside the cinema,” Niall said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of said cinema. 

“Well, I’ve been holding it for what feels like hours, mate and I’m about to piss myself. So if you don’t mind,” Louis lied.

Niall just rolled his eyes and turned around to continue walking. Liam told him that they didn’t need to save him a seat because he’d bought the tickets with the assigned seats, which Louis _knew_ that, but still. He waited until they were a little ways away and there wasn’t a chance that they’d turn around before he dashed into the store. 

Immediately upon entering, Louis was extremely overwhelmed. There were so many things to look at and _the smell_ was extreme. It was a nice smell, quite floral, but it was so overpowering he felt like he was choking on it. He was suddenly very glad he wasn’t a woman, he didn’t know how they dealt with this all the time. 

“Hello, can I help you?” An employee dressed in all black asked Louis with a friendly smile. 

He pointed to the pair of lacy pink knickers on the mannequin in the window that first caught his attention. That colour would look amazing against Harry’s rosy skin and he had to buy them for him. “I’m actually looking for those.”

“Oh,” the employee said, smiling again. “Those are back here, I’ll take you to them.”

She led Louis to the back of the store through displays of bras and those torso lingerie things, whatever those were called. They came to the back of the store where there were tables upon tables of underwear. God, there were _so many_. So many different styles and colours to choose from. He thought he was overwhelmed before, but it was nothing compared to how he felt now.

The employee pointed out the pair Louis saw in the window and Louis picked up the one on top of the pile. Fuck, they were silky. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how nice they would feel against his skin. No wonder Harry liked wearing them so much. 

“We’re having a sale right now. These three tables here—” the employee pointed to the three tables nearest to them “—are all five for twenty-five pounds.”

Louis was only planning on buying Harry the pink pair he saw in the window, but after hearing that he couldn’t say no. He just wanted to do something nice for Harry and if this was something that Harry was truly into, Louis wanted to let him know that he supported it and Harry shouldn’t feel ashamed about it. It would also be nice if Harry wore them for him, but Louis didn’t want to push his luck.

“Are we shopping for someone special?” She asked, still lingering next to Louis. He nodded in response to that because, yeah, Harry was really special. “Great. Do you know what kind of things she likes to wear?”

If Louis wasn’t so overwhelmed right now he would have laughed at the fact that she automatically thought he was straight, but for now, he just went along with it. He thought back to the black pair Harry wore for him and what he liked about it. “Maybe something that’s feminine and delicate but with some lace.”

She nodded and showed him a few pairs that she thought fit that description and then left him to it, letting him know she’d be around if he needed any more help. Louis was definitely buying the pink pair, that was the whole reason he was even here, and he found four more that he thought would look great on Harry. He even picked out a lacy green thong. He wasn’t sure how Harry felt about those, but that shade of green matched his eyes too perfectly to pass up.

He had five pairs and was headed to the till when he realized they were all in different sizes. Shit, he didn’t even know what size to get. Harry had a very slim waist, but he also had those cute, pudgy hips. And he had a little, uh, _extra_ in the front that most women didn’t have and Louis wasn’t sure if he should size up to accommodate that. God, he was so out of his element. He made sure they were all in the size he thought was the right one, but he’d keep the receipt just in case so Harry could exchange them if they didn’t fit. Or, he could just return them all if he thought Louis was a fucking creep for buying them for him in the first place.

The same girl who helped him earlier checked him out and as Louis swiped his credit card to pay, she wrapped his purchase up in tissue paper, pressing a sticker in the center to secure it in place, and slipped it into the pink shopping bag. She handed it over to him along with his receipt and thanked him for coming in, wishing him a good day. Louis said the same to her before rushing out of the shop, hoping he still had time to make it to the cinema before the movie started.

He tossed the bag away in a trash bin on his way and shoved the tissue wrapped knickers into the pocket of his hoodie. Louis _always_ got cold in the movie theatre no matter what the temperature was like outside. He didn’t know if they pumped in cold air or what, but he always froze, so every time he went he made sure to bring along a hoodie. He was especially grateful for it now. 

The employee at the cinema scanned Louis’ ticket that he pulled up on his phone and pointed him in the direction of the theatre the movie was in. Louis walked inside, finding Liam and Niall easily as they were waving to him. He climbed the stairs and slid down the row to join them just as the lights dimmed and the previews started.

“Are you having some tummy issues, mate?” Niall whispered to him once he sat down. “You were gone for quite a while.”

Louis reached across Liam to grab the popcorn bucket that Niall was holding and yanked it out of his hands. Some of the popcorn fell into Liam’s lap who squawked about Louis making a mess, but Louis chose to ignore him. “Piss off, my tummy issues are none of your concern.” He dug his hand into the bucket and threw a whole handful of popcorn into his mouth, crunching happily as he settled into his seat to watch the trailers.

After the movie, Louis dropped Liam and Niall off back at their flat, ran inside to grab something, and then went straight to Harry’s. Thankfully, someone was coming out of Harry’s dorm building that held the door open for him so he didn’t have to text Harry and ask him to let him in. He knocked on Harry’s door and Thomas answered.

“Hey man,” he greeted, a slice of pizza in his hand. “Harry’s in his room. I just ordered a pizza if you want a slice.” He pointed with his pizza to the pizza box sitting on the coffee table.

Louis passed, he was too nervous to eat. And he didn’t understand why Thomas would even bother ordering a pizza when he lived with someone who could make them a million times better than any takeaway. To each their own, he guessed.

The door to Harry’s bedroom was open and Harry was sitting at his desk, typing something on his laptop. Louis knocked on the door frame and the squeaking of Harry’s desk chair as it spun around made Louis wince. He really needed to oil that up or something. Harry’s face lit up when he saw Louis standing in the doorway. Fuck, he was cute. Louis couldn’t believe he’d been so blind to the fact that Harry had been right there in front of him the whole time.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” Harry said, dimpling. “We didn’t have a study date planned for today that I forgot about, did we?” Louis’ heart skipped a beat at the word date. He was in way too deep. _Get it together, Tommo_.

“No, I just got you something.” Louis pulled out the bag he was holding from behind him and held it out for Harry to take. The only kind of bag he had at home was one of those ugly brown paper sacks. Not the most elegant way to give a gift, but it was the thought that counted, right?

“You got me a pressie?” Harry asked, eyes sparkling as he walked closer to take the bag from Louis, holding it close to his chest. “Is my birthday in June now? I need to talk to my mum about that.”

“No, you idiot,” Louis chuckled, shoving Harry in the shoulder playfully. “It’s just something I saw that I thought you’d like.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet.” Harry’s face went soft and he looked at the bag in his hands like it was the eighth wonder of the world. “I love your choice of bag.”

Louis groaned, he knew Harry was going to say something about it. “Shut up, it’s all we had at the flat. Liam uses those to take his lunch to work in and he’ll probably have my head if he notices one is missing. He’s anal about those kinds of things”

Harry sat on the edge of his bed and carefully unfolded the paper bag. He reached inside and he gasped, eyes going wide when he pulled out the knickers wrapped in the tissue paper that had the shop’s name printed over it. He quickly walked over to the bedroom and closed it, pressing his back against it. “What is this?” he whispered harshly.

Louis swallowed, he could feel his hands getting clammy with nerves. That definitely wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for. “Well, you said it was something you were interested in and always wanted to try and you know how much I liked you in them and you only have the one pair so I thought I’d get you some more,” he rambled, panicking slightly when Harry didn’t say anything. “It was just going to be one pair but they had a five for twenty-five offer that I couldn’t resist.”

Slowly, so slowly that Louis wanted to scream—he was already nervous and Harry taking his sweet time to open it wasn’t easing a single one of his nerves—Harry peeled off the sticker keeping the tissue paper held together and unfolded it. Lying on top was the pink pair Louis first saw in the window and Harry picked them up, running his fingers along the soft lace around the waistband.

Harry _still_ wasn’t saying anything and it was driving Louis to insanity. He was seriously contemplating just bolting out the door and never coming back because obviously, Harry thought he was a fucking lunatic for buying him knickers. Like, what kind of person did that? He just wanted to go back to a few hours ago before he walked into the shop and tell himself not to go through with it.

But he needed to say something, needed to fill the silence. He wanted to try and explain himself, let Harry know why he bought them and that it was _okay_ that he was into wearing them. 

“I thought that colour would look nice on you,” Louis said, his voice sounding too loud in the quiet room. “The lady that helped me in the shop said it was mauve, but I don’t really know what that means. I think it’s more like a dirty pink.” What the fuck was he saying? _Dirty pink_. That sounded awful and not at all flattering.

Somehow, that got Harry to look up at him and speak for the first time in what felt like fucking hours. “You had a lady help you in the shop?” His eyes were wide with panic like he was afraid that she somehow knew who Louis was buying them for. Or worse, that Louis told her. 

“I didn’t tell her they were for you,” Louis rushed to reassure him. “She thought I was buying them for my girlfriend. Can’t believe she actually thought I was straight,” he chuckled trying to make light of the situation, but Harry wasn’t laughing along with him and the sound died in his throat. He wanted to rip his fucking hair out. “I definitely didn’t tell her I was buying them for my mate. That would be weird.”

Harry’s whole body _deflated_ as if he were a balloon that someone just took a needle to, the bundle of knickers almost falling from his limp hand. “Right, your mate,” he said, almost bitterly and Louis’ stomach _plummeted_.

Fuck, buying lacy underwear for your mate sounded even weirder than buying them for a boy you fancy. This whole thing was going wrong and everything he said kept making things worse. Harry looked more _sad_ now than anything and Louis wanted to get back that smile he had on his face when he first walked in. “Do you like them?” He asked, desperately trying to make things right again.

This time, Harry reached for the green thong, his cheeks turning bright pink when he saw them. “Yeah, they’re really pretty,” he said quietly. “Thank you.”

“You can try them on later and see if you like them on,” Louis explained. “I didn’t really know your size so I just guessed, but the receipt is in the bag if you want to return them or exchange them or whatever.”

“Yeah, I’ll try them on but I think they’ll be okay,” Harry said, now looking at a light blue pair before he turned to face Louis. “Thank you, Lou. This was really nice of you.” 

Louis wasn’t sure if Harry really meant that or not, seeing as how his smile wasn’t his real smile, didn’t bring out his dimples, but Louis knew that was the best he was going to get in this moment so he took it. “You’re welcome. I’m going to head out now, I’ve got plans with the boys,” he lied, but not as smoothly as he thought if Harry frowning at that was anything to go by. “But I’ll see you on Monday.” And then he was running out before he could mentally beat himself up anymore, waving goodbye to Thomas as he scampered out the front door.

It was a few hours later while Louis was still lying in bed wallowing in his embarrassment when his phone pinged with a new text message. He reached for it where he had tucked it underneath his pillow earlier and raised it above his head to read it. He swiped open the message without looking at the little preview to see who it was from and then promptly dropped it on his face.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath as he rubbed where his phone hit the bridge of his nose. That was definitely going to leave a bruise. Lovely.

Louis picked his phone back up again, holding it tightly this time, as his eyes slowly trailed over the photo he just received. He wasn’t even sure if he was breathing or not. It was a mirror selfie of Harry, feet endearingly pigeon-toed, one hand placed on his hip while the other held his phone, unfortunately, blocking his face, and his black hair clip holding back his curls. But the most important part was that he was wearing the pink, no _mauve_ , pair of knickers that Louis had just bought for him and a _fucking crop top_. Louis didn’t even know he owned any crop tops and it was a goddamn crime that Harry kept that little piece of information from him.

It was just a simple white t-shirt with a phrase written across the chest, but Harry’s arm that was holding his phone was covering the majority of it and Louis couldn’t make out what it said. The hem was curled up and a little crooked almost as if Harry had _cut it_ to make it into a crop top. But the knickers, _christ_ , the knickers fit him like a glove. They perfectly framed that soft swell of his hips that Louis loved so much and the colour looked incredible against his skin. And he was _hard_ because Louis could clearly see the thick outline of him through the lace. _They fit_ was typed out underneath the photo.

Louis was quickly fattening up in his joggers and he had to yank them down to get a hand around himself. He was so hard and Harry was so pretty. He gasped out Harry’s name as he came and shame quickly flooded his body at getting himself off to a picture of Harry.

With his clean hand, he typed out a reply. _I knew that colour would look amazing on you_. As soon as his text delivered, the three little dots popped up showing that Harry was typing. _Thank you again_. And another one came in right after that. _I hope you enjoyed the picture_ followed by the winking face and the eggplant emoji. Louis groaned, tossing his phone down onto his bed and heading into his bathroom to clean himself up.

Walking out of his last final exam felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off of Louis’ shoulders. He was finally free. Well, he was for the next three months for the summer holidays and then it was back to it again.

He was desperate to talk to Harry since it was because of him that Louis felt so confident taking his exams, he knew he fucking smashed all of them. He didn’t even want to think about what could have happened if he stayed in that library study group. But it had been almost a week since he last saw Harry, last spoke to him. The last few days before exams they both decided to spend alone because they didn’t want distractions of any kind. Louis hadn’t really spoken to _anyone_ during that time because he turned his phone off and shoved it to the bottom of one of his dresser drawers so he wouldn’t even be tempted to touch it. 

He wasn’t sure if Harry even wanted to talk to him because Louis didn’t even realize until that exact moment that they hadn’t done anything outside of studying the whole time. Except for that party they went to but that didn’t really count. And sure, Louis would stay over sometimes and they’d watch a film or whatever, but they never did anything off campus like actual friends did. 

And maybe that was all Harry wanted, just a study buddy and, he guessed, a fuck buddy because of what they’d gotten up to recently. Just the thought of that made Louis feel sick. He’d have to wait until at least tomorrow to reach out to Harry again because he knew Harry still had an exam tomorrow morning and he didn’t want to risk bothering him. 

It wasn’t until early afternoon the following day that Louis remembered. He almost dropped the bowl of cereal he was having as a late breakfast when it came to him. He remembered Harry telling him about a holiday he was going on with his family to fucking Jamaica or somewhere like that with beaches that Louis was incredibly envious of. He was going to be gone for two weeks and he was leaving right after he got out of his exam which was in—Louis glanced up at the clock on the microwave—fuck, less than an hour. There was no way Louis could let Harry leave for two whole weeks without telling him how he felt. Even if things didn’t go the way he was hoping for and Harry didn’t reciprocate his feelings, at least he’d have two weeks without Harry to try and move on. He left his bowl of cereal on the kitchen table, slipped on his shoes that were lying on the floor next to the shoe rack, and rushed out the door.

Of course, it was just starting to sprinkle when Louis left his flat, but now that he was about halfway to Harry's dorm it was absolutely chucking it down. The rain was coming down so hard and fast that Louis could barely see the road in front of him, the wipers moving so quickly, but doing nothing to actually clear the water from his windshield. He gripped the steering wheel tighter, leaned forward, and squinted his eyes to try and make out the lines of the road.

Thankfully, Louis had driven that exact route almost every day for a little over a month so he could probably do it in his sleep, but it was still slightly terrifying to drive and not be able to see where he was going. He couldn’t even go very fast and he was on a time crunch. He needed to make it there before Harry left and boarded his plane.

Sighing in relief as he pulled into the car park in front of Harry’s dorm building, Louis whipped into the first open space he found. The second he opened the door and stepped out, he was drenched to the bone. He realized a little too late that he could have just stayed in his fucking car and waited so he wouldn’t have gotten wet, but it was a little too late for that now. 

He jogged up to the entrance, where there was, thankfully, a little awning he could stand under—not like it was much help now—while he waited. No one entered or exited the building that could let him while he stood there and he prayed that he wasn’t too late, that Harry didn’t finish his exam early and was already on his way to the airport. Surely, if that were the case, Harry would have at least texted him to let him know he was leaving. 

Louis was starting to shiver, freezing in his wet clothes, when he saw someone approaching in the distance. From the way they were a little hunched over as they walked, Louis could tell it was Harry even from a distance and in the pouring rain. He couldn’t wait a second longer for Harry to reach the building, so Louis ran out to meet him halfway. 

Once he got closer, he could hear the gasp Harry made when he saw Louis approaching over the sound of the rain hitting the pavement. “Lou, what are you—“

Louis didn’t have any plans when he drove out here, no fucking clue what he was going to say, just knew he needed to tell Harry how he felt. He was mentally writing it all out while he waited for Harry to show up, but now that Harry was right here in front of him, he forgot every single word. He just stepped up underneath Harry’s umbrella, cupped Harry’s face between his hands, and kissed him. 

It was as if time stopped, the rain stopped, as their lips met. Harry’s lips were slack against his own for a few beats before he started to kiss back. Harry’s mouth was soft and plush against Louis’ and it was maddening how easily they slotted together. Slowly, Louis’ tongue flicked out against the seam of Harry’s lips and Harry opened up under him, clutching at Louis’ shirt and pulling him even closer. 

Fuck, Harry was a good kisser and Louis was mad at himself for denying them of this for so long. They could have been doing this the whole time. God, Louis was an idiot. He gripped at the curls at the base of Harry’s neck to tilt his head the way he wanted it and kissed him harder. 

Suddenly, Louis felt the rain starting to hit his back and it brought him back down to earth. He stepped back from the kiss and saw Harry’s hand that was holding his umbrella had gone slack and it was now down by his feet. “What?” Harry asked dazedly, fingers gently pressing against his bottom lip. 

“I couldn’t let you leave without telling you,” Louis explained.

“Telling me what?” Harry asked, looking confused, but not any less cute. Louis really wanted to kiss him again. Now that he’d gotten a taste he didn’t ever want to stop, but he needed to control himself for just a few minutes to be able to say what he came here for. 

“I really, really like you, Harry Styles,” Louis said, suddenly nervous. “I’m falling for you pretty hard and I want to be with you, like, properly. You know, boyfriends and all that cheesy stuff. If you’ll have me.” 

Slowly, Harry started to smile this big dopey smile, dimples out in full force. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Louis repeated. “That’s really all you have to say?”

Harry chuckled, shoulders shaking with it. “You just kissed me, Louis, you honestly can’t expect me to function like normal after that.”

Louis laughed because he wasn’t expecting that answer at all. “So I guess that’s a yes?” He said hopefully. 

“Louis, I’ve had the most _massive_ crush on you ever since you walked in late to our English class two years ago,” Harry confessed, absolutely blowing Louis’ mind “So, yes, I would love to have you. I’m never going to let you go.”

Louis’ head swam with that new information. He truly was a prize idiot for not realizing that until now and for taking so long to figure out his own feelings. “Good. Because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here, with you, in the pouring rain getting soaked because, apparently, I broke you and you don’t even know how to hold up an umbrella anymore.”

Harry’s eyes widened and he looked down to where the umbrella was still laying by his feet. “Oh, fuck, I’m sorry.” He put it back over them and stepped even closer to Louis, wrapping his free arm around his waist. 

“It’s okay, baby,” Louis told him, leaning into Harry’s touch like he was starved. “I was already soaked out here waiting for you.” 

Harry got that dopey smile on his face again. “Baby,” he said dreamily. 

“Oh my god,” Louis laughed, pretending like he wanted to get out of Harry’s arms even though that was the furthest thing from what he actually wanted. And he could tell that Harry knew it too with the way he smiled and held Louis tighter. “That kiss really did turn you dumb.”

“Shut up,” Harry groaned, shyly ducking his head. “But do it again. Please.” And Louis definitely couldn’t say no to that.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [ireallysawanangel](http://ireallysawanangel.tumblr.com) on tumblr, so come say hi!  
> [Here's](https://ireallysawanangel.tumblr.com/post/622908212389232640) a tumblr post you can reblog if you'd like!


End file.
